Tape cutter having means to adjust the length of the tape fed between cuts



Oct. 17, 1961 A. ABBENANTE 3,004

TAPE CUTTER HAVING MEANS TO ADJUST THE LENGTH OF THE TAPE FED BETWEEN CUTS Filed March 1, 1954 FIG. I.

INVENTOR ANTHONY ABBENANTE WW ATTORNEY table.

TAPE CUTTER HAVING MEANS T ADJUST LENGTH OF THE TAPE FED BETWEEN CUTS. Anthony Abbenante, Ozone Park, N.Y.. FiledMar. 1,195.4, Ser. No. 413,1 -30 2 Claims; ((31. 83-245) I application relatesfto an improved tape. cutter for openat'i onfin. association with 'atape-feeding device such asa. sewing. machine orthe like. p v s The. invention is directedto providing means. for auto- 'matically cutting on predetermined lengths from. a continuously. fedirfldbon. or tapefof cloth, paper, plastic material, metal foil and: the like. It is: a principal. object to .provide adevicefor automatically cutting predetermined machine. As the tape. to be cut by the present tape cutter islsewed by the sewing machine it will be fed through the tape cutter.. As. predetermined lengths of tape 'pass through the tape cutter, they will be auto.-

matical ly cut. The tape cutteris disposed to be driven via a suitable mechanical arrangement by the driving motor ofthe sewing machine, generally in coordination with the operation of the sewing machine- Thetape cutter is adapt ed for manual operation at thewill of the operator tolcut the tapeat any desired point.

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view 'of a device embodying the. invention and an associated driving mechai i t FIG. 2. is a rear. view of'the. device; shownin 1. 4 FIG; 3- ista side view of the device taken on lines 3.-3. of FIG. 2..

FIG.. 4 is' a s ectionall view taken on lines 4 4 of FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on lines 5- 5 of FIG. 1.

FIG- 6 is a sectional View taken. on. lines 66 of FIG. 5. p 7

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on the" lines 77 of In FIG; 11 is showna. driving mechanism for the tape cutter embodying the invention; This mechanism includes-a shaft, 10.. journaled. in the; upstanding? ends of frame: 11-- Frame 11. is securely? clamped by e-clamps 12,. 13 tot-thetable. T. which maybe a. sewing machine A'pulley 14. is carried by shaft and isdriven byma belt B='from. a suitable. drivingpower source; such the driving motor of an associated sewing machine.

Pulley 14 is. held in abutment with wheel 15 by a spring tensionled by collar 17.. Collar: LTa'nd wheel 15 are both secured by set screwsto shaft 10. Pulley 14 is thus frictionally engaged with wheel 15. Shaft 10 carries a hexagonal collar 18 iii-the end of which is eccentrically disposed the pin 19. .Pin: 19 is engaged in the link '20. Link 20is connected to a one way clutch member 21 via pin 22. Clutch member 21 imparts movement in only one direction to the shaft 23 as shown by arrow 24 in FIG. 3. Shaft 23 carries the gears 25 and 26 disposed as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Gear 25 engages gear 27 which is carried by shaft 28. Shaft United Stat Patent 0 Patented Oct. 17,1961

28 carries. and turns the feedroller. 29 shown best in FIG. 2. I

In FIG. 2' roller is shown closely disposedto table 30'. Between roller 29 and the top oftable 30 passes tape A which is moved by roller 29- from. rear. to front of the-tape cutter. A pair of pins 31- are. disposed in shaft 281 The pins may he engaged by the end of release bell-crank 32 which may be pivoted to raise. roller 29and release tape A when it 'is desired to pull the tape freely through the tape cutter. See FIGS. 2 and 3. The shaft 28. journals in a pair of'slots S in the upright frame members 33, 34 so that the. shaft 28 and roller 29 can 'be lifted by release bell-crank 32. Afknife 35 is disposed vertically between. the/frame members 33, 34 and 'is guided in movement there between to sever the tape A in response to actuation of a solenoid disposed switch 38 and the solenoidin housing 36 are not shown since they are entirely conventional and do not constitute the present invention. Switch 38 is. provided with electribal terminals. E as indicated in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 7' the several switch actuating elements. are shown on an'enlarged scale. Plunger 42 is actuatable in one way by manually depressing pin 45 which tilts crank element 44 and causes plunger 42 to move into contact with switch element'43. Plunger 42 is also actuatableautomatically. It will be noted that plunger 42 is supported by a cam. follower '46 pivoted on a pin 47.. A -spring '48- shown best in FIG. 5 is tensionedtorsionally when. the cam follower 46 moves the plunger to. actuate switch38. The spring operates torestore. the. plunger cam follower to their original positions. Cam follower '46 is responsive to rotation of cam 49-. Cam 49 is carried by a shaftl50 which also carries friction wheel 51 slidably keyed thereto. Friction Wheel 51 is rotated by'its. frictional contact "withthe face of'disc 52. Disc 52. as shown rubberized face. Disc 52is carried by shaft 28 and is rotated therewith. .Shaft 2821 also carries the gear 53 which engages gear 26 mounted on shaft 23. The speed of rotation oflfriction wheel 51 depends on its. position radially with respect to the center of. disc 52. This position is determined bythe placement of the grooved. hub 54of'wh'eel51 a1ongshaft 50.. A pin 55 rides in. the annular groove 56 inhub 54. Pin 55' is movable. laterally in sl'ot57 iofthe'stationary plate 58'. g

In 6"is shown the pin 55'. A knurled. knob. 59 and dial 60 are operatively connectedto pinf'55' and permitlateral movement-ofthe' pinto locate hub 54 and wheel 51' in any. desired position within the limits of disc 52. 1A pinion '55a fiked to. pinf5 5. engages 'a stationary rack 58a. on plate 58and said pin. may be caused to move 60 ll'aterally in sl ot57 by rotating knob 59. A locking pin dial 60. after the position of wheel. 51 is set. In order Headed by a bracket 62. is. provided and serves to lock to release. wheel. 51 from frictionalengagement with disc 52 there are, provided theslottedfingers 63 which are secured on. shaft 64.. A handle 65 is provided to partially just enough'to disengage the wheel 51 and disc 52. A spring 66 is compressed on downward movement of handle "65 and serves to restore handle 65 and shaft 64 to their original positions. Spring 66 also assists in maintaining the frictional contact between discs 51 and 52.

In FIG. 5 is shown a knurled knob 67 and a pin 68.

Knob 67 serves to rotate the shaft 50 until the cam 49 the base of knob 67.

A roller shaft 70 is provided with supporting pins 71. These pins together with the roller shaft 70 serve to guide the tape A entering under roller 29. The discs 72 at the ends of shaft 70 prevent disengagement of the shaft from pins 71.. A clamping bolt 73 provided with a handle 74 is threaded in the bottom frame member 75 and serves to secure the tape cutter to a table T. A horizontally disposed frame member 76 is disposed on the side frame members 33, 34 and serves to support the solenoid housing 36. A counter 77 is operatively connected to knife 35 to indicate the number of times the knife is lowered. Each lowering of the knife is counted as one predetermined length of tape cut by the tape cutter.

To operate the tape cutter, certain adjustments must be made. If desired tape A can be first threaded between roller 29 and table member 30. Roller 29 is raised slightly to facilitate insertion of the tape by manually pulling the bell-crank 32 forward When bell-crank 32 is released roller'29 returns to its original position. The cam 49 is located at its initial position by rotation of knob 67. The dial '60 is calibrated in terms of tape length so that by rotation of the attached knob 59 the 'disc 51 can be positioned relative to disc 52 to allow passage of a predetermined length of tape before the knife 35 is actuated. Actuation of knife 65 occurs 'automatically and depends on the passage of a predetermined length of tape passing under roller 29. Roller 29 is caused to rotate by the driving means for belt B which is operatively connected to the roller 29 via shaft 10, link 20, clutch 21, and gears 25 and 27. During thecourse of rotation of roller 29 on shaft 28, the cam 49 atone of its stepped points causes cam follower '46 to move plunger 42 into contact with switch element 43. Switch 38 is then closed causing electric current to flow through the solenoid in housing 36 to lower knife 35 until it severs the tape. The knife is raised as the cam 49 continues to rotatecausing the electric circuit to open. the knife 35 'at any desired point regardless of the posi- To actuate wise, the tape'passing under roller 29 will be cut autocutting narrow filaments such as threads and cords as -well as bands of extended width in sheet form. Thus the term tape is to be construed in the specification and claims as generic and placing no limit on the width of material cut by a device embodying the invention. Also no limit is placed on the nature of the material cut by the cutting device. The cutter is readily adapted to cut cloth, paper, plastic material, metal foil, and other thin sheet, ribbon, or filamentary material of organic and inorganic origin.

1 construed as only illustrative of the invention.

Although a single preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed it is desired that this shall be Many changes and modifications are possible without depart ing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention shall be regarded as limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tape feeding and cutting device comprising in combination, a drive mechanism operatively connected to a feed roller, said mechanism including a reciprocatable link and one way clutch, to drivethe roller in one direction, saidroller being disposed to pass tape through the device, a friction disc operatively connected to the roller, a friction wheel driven by said disc and means operative to adjust said friction wheel to selective predetermined positionswith respect to theaxis of the disc to control a drive connection between the friction wheel and said cam means'for manually adjusting the position of said cam with respect to said cam follower, a switch disposed for periodic actuation by the cam follower, and a knife operatively connected to and controllable by an electrical circuit'including said switch, to cut lengths of tape determined by the position of said wheel relative to the axis of said disc, a calibrated dial being provided for the setting of the said wheel in a position to fix the length of tape cut by the knife, said cam including a stepped portion which is engageable by the cam follower, said switch being actuated when the cam follower reaches said stepped portion of the cam.

2. A tape feeding and cut-ting device comprising in combination, a drive mechanism operatively connected to a feed roller, said mechanism including a reciprocatable link and one way clutch, to drive the roller in one direction, said roller being disposed to pass tape through the device, a friction disc operatively connected to the roller,

a friction wheel drive by said disc and means operative to adjust said friction wheel to selective predetermined positions with respect to the disc to control speed of ro tation of the wheel, a cam, a cam follower, drive connection between the friction wheel and said cam means for manually adjusting the position of said cam with respect to said cam follower, a switch disposed for periodic actuation by the cam follower, a knife operatively connected to and controllable by an electrical circuit including said switch, to cut lengths of tape determined by the position of said wheel relative to the axisof said disc, a

calibrated dial being provided for indicating the set-ting of the said wheel in a position to fix the length of tape cut by the knife, and means manually operable to actuate the knife at will.

- References Cited in the file of this patentv UNITED STATES PATENTS 487,739 Horne et al Dec. 13, 1892 653,955 Gordon July 17, 1900 672,745 Slonemetz Apr. 23, 1901 1,176,680 Langston Mar. 21, 1916 1,863,005 Campbell June 14, 1932 1,969,221 'Johnson Aug. 7, 1934 1,993,393 Willshaw et al; Mar. 5, 1935 2,447,103- Susen Aug. 17, 1948 2,465,453 Holbrook Mar. 29, 1949 2,589,347 Demerath -1 Mar. 18, 1952 2,689,610 Myers Sept. 21, 1954 ,748,861 Von Stoeser June 5, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany -1 Feb. 14, 1 923 

